Charen

REMAINS OF the Day" is an exquisite movie, but it's an odd one for Mona Charen (see accompanying article) to discuss in the same column with the decline of fatherhood.Yes, the butler, Stevens, does keep Lord Darlington's household running smoothly even while his own father lies dying upstairs. And, as Ms. Charen notes, he represents a kind of "duty, honor and responsibility" whose decay has left us all poorer. But the burden of the movie, and of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, is the way we are forced to face the fact -- though it's not clear that Stevens himself ever does -- that he's sacrificed himself for an unworthy master, and perhaps by extension an unworthy system.

Foreign and domestic policies need attentionNow that the election tumult is dying down it's appropriate to shift focus from the promises made to get a political job, to those actions necessary to do the job.Two issues that have historic implications and that require both public commitment and political courage are an enlightened China policy and campaign finance reform.Our relations with China are critical. We can't afford to delay articulating the strategic course we intend to take.Short-term conflicts and specific issues can then be debated within that context.

Almost as depressing as the killing of Dr. David Gunn outside a Pensacola, Fla. abortion clinic was the ensuing war of words. Recent columns on the op-ed pages of The Sun and Evening Sun provide a sample.In a column reprinted March 15 in The Evening Sun, Anthony Lewis of the New York Times pulled no punches: "The murder of a doctor in Pensacola, Fla., tells us the essential truth about most anti-abortion activists. They are religious fanatics, who want to impose their version of God's word on the rest of us. For them the end justifies any means, including violence."

Mona Charen can't speak for all womenThank you, Mona Charen, for waking me from my dogmatic slumbers. I think I am fairly well educated and fairly well informed. And I thought, before reading her Sept. 23 column ("Women are more conservative than they think they are"), that I had become more liberal as my knowledge about ideas and legislation grew. But Ms. Charen has kindly shown me just how wrong I was. She tells me, ''The more women know about ideas and legislation, the more conservative they become.

Consistent, credible political criticismAs first lady, and as an active participant in her husband's administration, Hillary Clinton is obviously fair game for public criticism. Beyond this fact, anyone in public life should be subject to public scrutiny regarding the propriety, and the legality, of their activities.Criticism and scrutiny, however, are frequently all too appropriate for at least some of the critics.Too often, there exists an enormous gap between those who criticize and the consistency or credibility of the criticism.

Mona Charen is a right-wing reactionaryRegarding the 18 boxed column inches you granted Mona Charen for "Rent for the wealthy" (March 23), the column obviously was of narrow relevance to readers of The Evening Sun, dealing as it did with the injustices of an archaic rent control system that has undergone unending politicization for over a generation in New York City.But you were not put off by the lack of regional or national relevance of this peculiarly local issue. You saw that Charen, the fundamentalist, right wing emissary of reactionary, conservative Republicanism, was really concerned with bashing the current Democratic administration.

Mona Charen can't speak for all womenThank you, Mona Charen, for waking me from my dogmatic slumbers. I think I am fairly well educated and fairly well informed. And I thought, before reading her Sept. 23 column ("Women are more conservative than they think they are"), that I had become more liberal as my knowledge about ideas and legislation grew. But Ms. Charen has kindly shown me just how wrong I was. She tells me, ''The more women know about ideas and legislation, the more conservative they become.

MORE THAN fruitcake or the Pound Puppies' barking Christmas carol, what I most hope we are spared this season is warring over how we celebrate our festivities in public settings.It is the rare winter solstice that passes without a tale of a school or a courthouse somewhere getting entangled in the web between church and state. Recently in Utah, a Jewish high school girl objected to the inclusion of Christian songs in her school's choral performance. Syndicated columnist Mona Charen soiled the page opposite a few weeks back with her suggestion that the aggrieved choir member could go sit in study hall if she didn't like it or do as Ms. Charen, a Jew, used to do: lip-sync offending passages so as not to upset God or her choir director.

What kind of country won't cure its ill?In these times of party conventions, we are constantly reminded how great America is and how proud Americans should be.We are told over and over again that America is about its great people and their pursuit of the American Dream.It seemed particularly astonishing to me, therefore, to hear the news of the lack of state funding to pay for protease inhibitors, these new drugs that could potentially cure AIDS.According to recent reports, up to 18 states don't cover these medications at all, whereas others are restricting the eligibility to only certain patients.

TCFathers' rights, responsibilities need balancingMona Charen, in her article about Baby Jessica ("Revisionist history in the case of Baby Jessica," March 21), seems to want it both ways.She mentions that Jessica's biological father was required to pay child support for another daughter, Amanda. Yet, though she feels strongly that he should be financially accountable for his children, she does not want him to have custody of Jessica.Ms. Charen feels that biology should not be considered when determining who is to be awarded custody.

What kind of country won't cure its ill?In these times of party conventions, we are constantly reminded how great America is and how proud Americans should be.We are told over and over again that America is about its great people and their pursuit of the American Dream.It seemed particularly astonishing to me, therefore, to hear the news of the lack of state funding to pay for protease inhibitors, these new drugs that could potentially cure AIDS.According to recent reports, up to 18 states don't cover these medications at all, whereas others are restricting the eligibility to only certain patients.

Consistent, credible political criticismAs first lady, and as an active participant in her husband's administration, Hillary Clinton is obviously fair game for public criticism. Beyond this fact, anyone in public life should be subject to public scrutiny regarding the propriety, and the legality, of their activities.Criticism and scrutiny, however, are frequently all too appropriate for at least some of the critics.Too often, there exists an enormous gap between those who criticize and the consistency or credibility of the criticism.

Invading privacy for national securityThank you for your current series of articles on NSA. Special commendations to Tom Bowman and Scott Shane for their excellent reporting of what I'm sure has been an extremely challenging investigation.I don't believe great state secrets will be revealed, but it is good that the public, in a supposed democratic system, is reminded of how our tax dollars are spent.How fascinating that the uncovering of other nations' and persons' secrets is conducted with utmost secrecy, and that high respect is given to an atmosphere and a process that denies a respect for the privacy of others.

On privatizing schools, mayor caved in to unionAm I to understand that the savings which Baltimore will gain by canceling the Educational Alternatives, Inc. school management contract are only on the order of about $1 million- $2 million? Why in the world then was the mayor asking for $7 million in cuts from the company? Could not these people have figured a way to split the difference?You have to give EAI credit for not being willing to shortchange the students of Harlem Park, etc. and you have to wonder where the mayor is coming from.

MORE THAN fruitcake or the Pound Puppies' barking Christmas carol, what I most hope we are spared this season is warring over how we celebrate our festivities in public settings.It is the rare winter solstice that passes without a tale of a school or a courthouse somewhere getting entangled in the web between church and state. Recently in Utah, a Jewish high school girl objected to the inclusion of Christian songs in her school's choral performance. Syndicated columnist Mona Charen soiled the page opposite a few weeks back with her suggestion that the aggrieved choir member could go sit in study hall if she didn't like it or do as Ms. Charen, a Jew, used to do: lip-sync offending passages so as not to upset God or her choir director.

IN 1984, WALTER Mondale made a spectacle of himself interviewing a procession of politically correct candidates for vice president. His choice of then-Rep. Geraldine Ferraro proved less than felicitous.One might have thought that after that object lesson, the affirmative action approach to picking vice presidents would be exhausted. But no, the great mentioners are at it again. Recently, Larry King asked three prominent Republicans how they would feel about a "Dole/Whitman" ticket. And Larry King is not alone.

ENOUGH already!If one more person claims the federal trial of the four officers accused of violating Rodney King's civil rights is a case of double jeopardy, I may jump from the top of the World Trade Center.Syndicated columnist Mona Charen (Other Voices, Feb. 16) made the claim. William Safire followed on the same page March 2. Darryl Gates, former Los Angeles police chief, originally made the charge on ABC's "Nightline," which should have been a tip to Ms. Charen and Mr. Safire that the argument might lack just a smidgen of cogency.

Foreign and domestic policies need attentionNow that the election tumult is dying down it's appropriate to shift focus from the promises made to get a political job, to those actions necessary to do the job.Two issues that have historic implications and that require both public commitment and political courage are an enlightened China policy and campaign finance reform.Our relations with China are critical. We can't afford to delay articulating the strategic course we intend to take.Short-term conflicts and specific issues can then be debated within that context.

REMAINS OF the Day" is an exquisite movie, but it's an odd one for Mona Charen (see accompanying article) to discuss in the same column with the decline of fatherhood.Yes, the butler, Stevens, does keep Lord Darlington's household running smoothly even while his own father lies dying upstairs. And, as Ms. Charen notes, he represents a kind of "duty, honor and responsibility" whose decay has left us all poorer. But the burden of the movie, and of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, is the way we are forced to face the fact -- though it's not clear that Stevens himself ever does -- that he's sacrificed himself for an unworthy master, and perhaps by extension an unworthy system.

Light Rail honor system breeds crimeRegarding light rail crime and specifically in reference to the calls for elimination of the "honor" system from residents and businesses adversely affected by crime, Diana Rosborough, a Mass Transit Administration spokeswoman, says that:"We believe the honor system works. It is the only system that is used on the light rails in the country."Let me ask Ms. Rosborough, if the honor system works, why doesn't the MTA use it on the subway or the bus system, neither of which have proven to create the increased crime created by light rail?